in the light of the stars
by cassino
Summary: in which lily picks out the destination for their date, and james ends up stuffing himself silly with popcorn and falling for princess leia / james x lily, for the houses competition


**a/n: **i meant to post this like… a week ago. oh well.

**forum: **the houses competition

**house: **ravenclaw

**year: **four

**category:** drabble

**prompt: **[action] - watching a muggle movie as a witch or a wizard

* * *

_**in the light of the stars**_

_words: 942_

* * *

James fidgeted nervously with the frayed hem of his denim jacket, his eyes darting about the strange flashing signs that adorned the entrance of the Muggle 'theater', as Lily had called it. Muggles milled around him, laughing and talking as they held drinks in flimsy paper cups and buckets of a snack he couldn't quite identify. They were all so… _familiar_ with the extravagance of the place, with the vibrantly coloured posters and bright lights, that James felt like an alien amongst them. He quickly scanned the crowd for his girlfriend's familiar red hair, hoping that she would return soon.

A movie, she'd said. 'Star Fight' or whatever. Apparently, her Muggle friends had been raving about it, and even Moony had spent almost an hour gushing about its brilliance to Lily. She was convinced that they simply _must _see it and here they were, in the theatre to watch this amazing movie thing.

"Oof, James, can you hold this for me?" Lily grunted, thrusting a large container into his hands. He almost dropped it, taken aback by the sight of the strange snack he'd been so curious about. It smelled delicious, though, all salty and buttery.

"Hey, Lils?" She hummed, raising her eyebrows as she rummaged for something in her purse. "What's this?"

Lily looked up in surprise before she broke down into giggles. "Oh, I forgot you wouldn't know what popcorn is. It's like… kernels of corn, but popped, y'know?" James didn't know. Lily sighed in frustration. "They stick 'em in a kettle with butter and salt, and the corn just… puffs up and _voila, _you have popcorn!"

James just tilted his head to the side, thoroughly confused by her explanation. "I'm _really _not doing a good job of explaining it, am I? Just… eat it. I promise it's good."

With a look of trepidation, James cautiously picked up a couple of kernels and nibbled on them. He instantly perked up, and began himself silly with handfuls of the snack. "This is _amazing. _Why don't we _have _this in Diagon—erm, where we live?"

Lily chuckled, patting her boyfriend lightly as he choked a little on the popcorn. "Spare some for the actual movie, James. Now, we've got our tickets and I've got the soda," she waved the paper cups, fitted with lids and straws, "So let's go in!"

James stumbled on his own feet as Lily dragged him towards a set of double doors, talking rapidly about some bloke or the other (Harrison Ford, anyone?). He wasn't really paying attention, as they slipped into a dark, cool room with high ceilings. James studied his surroundings in awe, his jaw dropping open as he spotted the large white screen in front of them.

"That's where the movie will be shown," Lily whispered to James. "Remember what I said about movies? They're like the moving photographs, except there's more than one scene and the people speak and there's music and all that."

James nodded. He still hadn't wrapped his head around the idea of putting together something like that, quite frankly, it turned his brain into mush just to think about it, but well… he'd have to see it to believe it.

Lily found them a couple of seats right in the middle, and James took a sip of his soda, enjoying the way the fizz popped in his mouth, leaving behind a sugary aftertaste.

"What's the movie called again? Star Fight?"

"No, James, Star _Wars,_" Lily hissed. "Now, shush. It's starting."

The lights dimmed and James leaned forward in his seat, anticipation thrumming in his veins. James almost jumped when the beginning of the music sequence blared out from the speakers, but soon settled down comfortably as he watched the rapidly moving people and the million different colours that appeared on the screen. He occasionally asked Lily a few questions if something didn't quite make sense to him ("Shut _up, _and let me watch, James!") but he was mostly amazed by the fact that they'd recreated all those amazing scenes of space and alien cities right _here _on earth, in a relatively small room. Without magic. Arthur Weasley had always told him that Muggles were brilliant but _this _was just mind-blowing.

When the movie finally ended two hours later, James and Lily walked back to James' flat, following a winding path along the Thames, as James gushed about lightsabers and the Jedi and Princess Leia ("She's so _pretty. _Nothing on you, of course, but so _pretty._"). Lily watched him with a fond smile, occasionally interjecting with a comment of her own.

They stopped for a few moments, looking out at the river, sequins of light glittering in the dark, silky water. It was a particularly beautiful night—the city was calm and quiet, the stars glinting in a cloudless velvet sky. A slight breeze tousled his hair, as James wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, dropping a kiss on her forehead.

"I really loved it, y'know. We should go to the theatre more often. Have more popcorn. I dunno how I've never had it before, it's _amazing._"

Lily giggled. "Well if you like it so much, I can make some for you, it's not a very difficult recipe."

"Would you really? You're an angel, Lily Evans," James declared, grinning as the redhead blushed.

"And you're a cheeseball, James Potter." She rolled her eyes, snuggling deeper into her boyfriend's arms. "And we can go to the theatre again when there's another good movie out—I'll let you choose this time. Just… don't make a scene by standing up and yelling indignantly when someone dies, okay?"

James grinned and winked at her. "It's a date."


End file.
